What we gonna do kid?
by CheriEstella
Summary: The song 'The Fighter' just fits Kid to a tee, but it could be any of the riders, they were all fighters. But I used the lyrics to tell a history of Kid fighting throughout his life as well as for his life. Great song.


**What we gonna do Kid? **

**Aka 'See I told you a liked The Kid' **

By CheriEstella

**** I love this song and as I listened closely to the lyrics I thought about Kid and what his temper was like and where that instinct to fight came from. But really it could be any or all of our beloved riders, they were all fighters. Oh and if any of you do fan vids this would be awesome! Just sayin'.

I don't own the song and I don't own TYR.

Song - Gym Class Heroes with Ryan Tedder - The Fighter

Here is a youtube if you wanna here it…. watch?v=bxV-OOIamyk

…**.**

**What are we gonna do Kid? **

**Just waking up in the morning  
And to be well,  
Quite honest with ya,  
I ain't really sleep well  
Ya ever feel like your train of thought's been derailed?  
That's when you press on**

"Kid, honey wake up, you gotta eat somethin'" Lou stood over the bed, looking down at me, she looked so tired, I know she's not getting much rest looking after me, the baby and the ranch. I have to get well, I have to get up, I have to be there for her. I have to fight, but I don't know if I can anymore.

Fighting, that's what my whole life's been a bout, fighting…..

**Until the referee rings the bell  
Until both your eyes start to swell  
Until the crowd goes home  
What we gonna do ya'll?  
…**

"Come on Kid get up, chores to do, let's get going" I feel a boot connect with my ribs hard, but before it can back away I grab it and pull it out from under its owner "Don't kick me!" I yell jumping on top of my older brother; Jed has me in height, weight, strength and age but at 6 years old I still get a few good licks in before he turns the table on me and I'm on the bottom taking the licks. As the youngest kid I fought for everything, I even had to fight for food some days and I learned early on how to take licks, to keep fighting and how to stay standing.

**Half the population's just waitin to see me fail  
Yeah right, you're better off trying to freeze hell  
Every time you fall it's only making your chin strong**

****"Stay down boy I'm warning ya" I only got one knee on the ground, in my mind that's not down, that's contemplating my next move. I jump up; surprise, I have learned, is a weapon that can hurt your enemy and give you an edge. "Arrrgggg " I yell as I throw myself at the man who calls himself my pa, I get at least two good solid hits in before he slams my broken body to the ground. He gets a few kicks in before my ma stops him. I know she'll pay the price for interfering, at only 12 I can take whatever he throws at me but I still ain't no match for him. I struggle and try to get up "You ain't nobody boy, never will be." He yells at me sending a few kicks at me for good measure "You're worthless trash now stay down." Last thing I hear is my ma "Leave him be Jedidiah, just leave him be. He ain't gonna stay down, he's a fighter"

**Until the referee rings the bell  
Until both your eyes start to swell  
Until the crowd goes home  
What we gonna do ya'll?  
Give em hell, turn their heads  
Gonna live life 'til we're dead.**

**There goes the fighter, there goes the fighter  
Here comes the fighter  
**

"Hey get away from there" Said the owner of the livery

"Just lookin" I said

"Well look someplace else" he said

"How much?" damn, she was a fine horse, 17 years on this earth and she was just about the prettiest thing I'd ever seen.

"Ain't just any horse, never had me better. $25, and cheap at that. Don't set your heart on it, you're probably never gonna see $25"

"You said anybody. Do I have to beat him?" I said taking off my coat, stepping into the ring.

"No ya don't have ta beat him," Said the Irish man who ran the boxing event " ya get $30 if you're still standing after 3 minutes" he was trying to talk me out of trying "It's set up so they wager but can't win sonny, you can't win boy."

**And if I can last thirty rounds  
There's no reason you should ever have your head down  
Six foot five, two hundred and twenty pounds  
Hailing from rock bottom, loserville, nothing town**

As I stood in the ring, the 3 minutes up and the man handing me $30 I knew all the fightin' I'd done in my life was for a reason. Not only could I fight, but I could take it, hit after hit, blow after blow and I'll always end on my feet. I hear the crowd cheer for me and I hear the voices saying as I left the ring, same as my mother used ta tell me, "You're a fighter Kid"…."There goes a fighter"…"This one's a fighter"

**Give me scars, give me pain  
Then they'll say to me, say to me, say to me  
There goes the fighter, there goes the fighter  
Here comes the fighter  
That's what they'll say to me, say to me, say to me,  
This one's a fighter**

Walking into the livery, beaten and bruised but not broken and seein' the look on his face when I handed him $25 was a great moment in my life. And when I walked out with Katy in tow, I knew my life was gonna change, maybe I wouldn't have to fight for scraps anymore.

**Text book version of the kid going nowhere fast  
And now I'm yelling, "Kiss my ass"  
It's gonna take a couple right hooks, a few left jabs  
For you to recognize you really ain't got it bad**

Jimmy lay there on the floor of the barn, wiping his lip with the back of his hand and slowly getting up. I'll admit I threw the first punch that time, most of the time really, Sam used ask Jimmy why he always went for the gun, for me; it was a punch, I was more likely to throw a punch then waste a bullet. Jimmy got up and turned to face me "this is about Lou ain't it" he said "well if that's how you wanna play ….." and he came at me. We fought in the barn, outside the barn into the yard and over the hitchin' post, exchanging blows and punches and not holding bad. We never held back. Me and Jimmy were best friends and brothers and we fought like it too. Lord the number of fights we had, don't know if I can count 'em all.

**Until the referee rings the bell  
Until both your eyes start to swell  
Until the crowd goes home  
What we gonna do ya'll?**

**Give em hell, turn their heads  
Gonna live life 'til we're dead.  
Give me scars, give me pain  
Then they'll say to me, say to me, say to me  
There goes the fighter, there goes the fighter  
Here comes the fighter  
That's what they'll say to me, say to me, say to me,  
This one's a fighter  
**

But lying here I don't know if this is a fight I can win, coming back from the war injured and sick I don't know, I just don't know if I got any fight left in me. I was gone two years and half of that spent in a prison camp near Richmond. That's where I lost my will to keep fighting for the scraps**.**

"Come on Kid you can do It" I hear 'em yelling from the cells and from around the prison yard. Buster and I had been fightin' for nearly half an hour, both of us cut up, eyes swollen and knuckles bloodied. We weren't fighting for a cause or an issue or even over a girl, we were fightin' 'cause the guards liked watching it. They'd gamble and place bets and to them it was better than watching a dog fight. I held the camp record, 10 fights 10 wins, if you can call 'em that. Two of them men I fought died, how am I supposed to live with that. The guards got to pick my opponents, sometimes a guard sometimes another prisoner and as long as I was standing at the end my men got ta eat that day and eat good. Out of the 2000 plus prisoners there were 467 from my regiment, I fought for scraps for them. Each fight took its toll on my body, broken ribs, busted jaw, nearly all the bones in one hand had been broken at least once and even though I was still young, only 22, I couldn't fight like I used to, now it was just about being able to take the blows, to hold on and be the one left standing.

**If you fall pick yourself up off the floor**

**And when your bones can't take no more  
Just remember what you're here for  
Cuz I know Imma damn sure  
**

Cody was the one that brought me home, he found out where I was and wagered against the guards that if I won I could leave with him. I won that fight, 11 for 11, that's the last thing I remember until Cody was standing over the bed at the hospital in Louisville. "Hey there brother, about time you came too. The doc has fixed you up best he could, but the rest is up to you. When I brought you in the Doc asked if you'd been caught in a stampede, both hands about as broken as they could get, 5 broke ribs, internal injuries and a fractured jaw but at least the swelling is finally going down in both eyes. I'm sorry I couldn't get to you sooner" Cody said trying to hold back tears. "But I sent word to Rock Creek, the family is waiting on you, Lou, Teaspoon, Rachel, Buck and hopefully Jimmy will be there when we get home. And then you can meet the newest member of the family, Little Emma, she looks just like Lou, thank Goodness." Cody wipes his face on his sleeve. I ain't able to talk, 'cause of the jaw but also because of seeing my brother and knowing what he had to risk to get me out, but I reach out and touch his hand and nod my thanks. I ain't never been so tired.

"Damn Kid you look like shit" Jimmy says sitting down in the chair next to the bed "Cody said you were beat up bad, and that you looked even worse when he first found you but this" he pointed at my face and shook his head "you look a lot like you did after all those fights we'd have, ya know the ones I always won" He smiled and I tried to smile back, not sure I succeeded. Jimmy stayed for a few days spending most days with me in the bedroom. I still hadn't gotten up, just didn't have the strength and even when he offered to help me out side to sit on the porch I shook my head no. I wasn't missing just the physical strength but I lacked the will, I was the missing the fight. That was two weeks ago and not much has changed. Teaspoon came by yesterday for a visit. That man raised all of us, when we met him his strange ways, love and guidance is what had helped us all grow into a close knit family, filled with love and respect. But yesterday he was kinda harsh, told me laying around weren't going to heal me, hiding weren't going to protect me and that I was missing out on that life God had given me a second chance at. "Kid ya can't stay in this bed forever, doc says you need to get up, you gotta move son or them bones won't heal proper. I know you been through a lot, I know your tired and I know how you feel, like you need more time to lick your wounds and son you know I love you, but your family needs you and God has given you a second chance. You have to decide if you're gonna lay here feeling pretty sorry for yourself or take that chance and learn to live again. What'cha gonna do Kid?"

**'Til the referee rings the bell  
'Til both ya eyes start to swell  
'Til the crowd goes home,  
What we gonna do kid?**

Looking back on all the fights I'd had to endure in my life I'd say I'd been given more than a few second chances.

And now as I look up at Lou, at this woman that ain't never deserted me and never let me down, how can I just lay here. God, I gotta find the strength to fight one more time. Surely I got one more fight in me. What's a few more scars, what's a little more pain. I just gotta climb in the ring one more time; get one more win, for her, for them. I push her hand away as she tries to help and I begin to sit up and slowly swing my legs over the side and put my feet on the floor. I look up at her, tears falling from her eyes "You can do this Kid" she said and I know she's right, this will be an easy fight 'cause I ain't gotta fight alone no more.

**'Til the referee rings the bell  
'Til both ya eyes start to swell  
'Til the crowd goes home,  
What we gonna do kid?**

…_**.**_

**Just waking up in the morning  
And to be well,  
Quite honest with ya,  
I ain't really sleep well  
Ya ever feel like your train of thought's been derailed?  
That's when you press on - Lee nails  
Half the population's just waitin to see me fail  
Yeah right, you're better off trying to freeze hell  
Some of us do it for the females  
And others do it for the retail**

**But I do it for the kids, life threw the towel in on  
Every time you fall it's only making your chin strong  
And I'll be in your corner like Mick, baby, 'til the end  
Or when you hear a song from that big lady**

**Until the referee rings the bell  
Until both your eyes start to swell  
Until the crowd goes home  
What we gonna do ya'll?**

**Give em hell, turn their heads  
Gonna live life 'til we're dead.  
Give me scars, give me pain  
Then they'll say to me, say to me, say to me  
There goes the fighter, there goes the fighter  
Here comes the fighter  
That's what they'll say to me, say to me, say to me,  
This one's a fighter**

**And if I can last thirty rounds  
There's no reason you should ever have your head down  
Six foot five, two hundred and twenty pounds  
Hailing from rock bottom, loserville, nothing town**

**Text book version of a kid going nowhere fast  
And now I'm yelling, "Kiss my ass"  
It's gonna take a couple right hooks, a few left jabs  
For you to recognize you really ain't got it bad**

**Until the referee rings the bell  
Until both your eyes start to swell  
Until the crowd goes home  
What we gonna do ya'll?**

**Give em hell, turn their heads  
Gonna live life 'til we're dead.  
Give me scars, give me pain  
Then they'll say to me, say to me, say to me  
There goes the fighter, there goes the fighter  
Here comes the fighter  
That's what they'll say to me, say to me, say to me,  
This one's a fighter**

**Everybody put yo hands up  
What we gonna do (hey!) y'all?  
What we gonna do (hey!) y'all?**

**If you fall pick yourself up off the floor (get up)  
And when your bones can't take no more (c'mon)  
Just remember what you're here for  
Cuz I know Imma damn sure**

**Give em hell, turn their heads  
Gonna live life 'til we're dead.  
Give me scars, give me pain  
Then they'll say to me, say to me, say to me  
There goes the fighter, there goes the fighter  
Here comes the fighter  
That's what they'll say to me, say to me, say to me,  
This one's a fighter**

**'Til the referee rings the bell  
'Til both ya eyes start to swell  
'Til the crowd goes home,  
What we gonna do kid?**


End file.
